Thursday, October 9, 2014

What is a
song you really enjoy, that energizes you and puts you in a good mood?What is it about that song that has that type
of affect on you?Maybe these are songs to
which you play while working out or when driving with the top down.

I don’t like
to dance but with a peppy song with a good beat my feet start tapping and my
body may begin to sway, especially if it is one of my favorites like the musical
Phantom of the Opera, songs by Michael
Jackson or the Top Gun
soundtrack. As we know, music can provide
focus. Relaxing music slows down our
breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. But music provides more than that; it
can take us back in time and fill us with a wave of emotions.

As the
communications manager for Front Porch, a non-profit offering independent
living, assisted living, memory care and care centers, a recent documentary
about a therapy program called Music& Memorypiqued my interest.

Social worker
and educator Dan Cohen, a Baby Boomer, started Music & Memory in 2010 in New York based on a simple premise –
how could he continue to enjoy his favorite music if and when he moved into a
retirement community? With his
background in social work and computers, he decided to bring iPods to assisted
living communities and care centers.
Working with the residents, families and staff, he created personalized
playlists for each resident. The result was profound emotional experience for
all involved.

In the
documentary, Dan explained that the part of the brain that registers music is
not usually affected by dementia/Alzheimer’s so it is like a “backdoor into the
mind.” Music provides a stimulus; it
activates the areas of the brain that are affected by rhythm, such as, coordination
and emotion. As Dr. Oliver Sacks M.D,
neurologist, said, “Music is not separable from emotion … and personal
experience. So it is not just a physiological stimulus. If it works at all, it will call the whole
person and many different parts of their brain and the memories and emotions
that go with that and this is why … it is so potent.”

The
documentary demonstrated many awe inspiring transformations. A resident named Gil, a military veteran, transformed
from agitated to calm with a smile across his face when he started hearing one
of his favorite songs. He would even
start singing along to the song. Henry,
a resident, who seemed closed-off and unresponsive, would become energized and passionate
when music from his heyday would play.
He would share the joy music gave him and some memories of when he heard
that music. Music opened their worlds
again. It connected them to their true
selves with only an iPod, headphones and a personalized playlist of songs that
are significant to them.

I started
thinking about how some songs have the ability to bring back a specific feeling
or memory. I recently heard “The Rainbow
Connection” sung by Kermit the Frog and found myself singing along and feeling
a wave of nostalgia. Songs from the
musical Paint Your Wagon bring me
back to when my mom would play the tape in the car when I was a child. It was one of her favorite musicals. John Lennon’s “Imagine” always reminds me of
when I sang it with my class during our eighth-grade graduation. Some songs have a more negative affect. Some songs I would not want on a personalized
iPod, such as, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin as I experience a wave of
awkward teen experiences since it was always the last song played at our
middle-school dances. But even though “Mad
World” by Michael Andrews is somber, I would want it added since I visualize
the beautiful choreography I saw arranged to it. Our lives, in a way, have their own individual
soundtracks.

At Front
Porch we believe in the spirit of the individual and nurturing the mind, body
and soul. With the support of the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing, I look forward to the Music & Memory program being brought
to our memory support communities, which include our award-winning Summer House
communities that serve those with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

What
songs would you want on a personalized iPod to spur a wave of emotion and wonderful memories? — Michele Pomerance

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About Front Porch

Front Porch is a not-for-profitorganization based in Glendale, Calif., serving individuals and families through full-service retirement, active adult communities, affordable housing and related management and development services. Front Porch retirement communities offer options ranging from independent living to skilled care, including assisted living and memory care. Front Porch holds an A credit rating from FitchRatings and an A- credit rating from Standard & Poor’s.

Founded in 1999, Front Porch embraces a leading-edge approach to enhancing well-being with innovative communities and programs that meet the changing needs of people as they age.